Passage of solid spherical particles across the blood-lymph barrier.

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AbstractSolid spherical particles (radius 300–700 Å) of methyl‐methacrylate marked with a fluorescent dye were administered to dogs by continuous intravenous injection in order to obtain a steady plasma concentration. Lymphatics were cannulated and lymph collected from four regions of the body: leg, liver, heart and bronchial lymphatics. The passage of particles across the blood‐lymph barrier was measured by means of simultaneous concentration measurements in blood and lymph, Particles up to 700 Å radius readily passed into liver lymph with a lymph‐plasma ratio of approximately 0.20 in the “steady state”. No measurable amounts of these particles were found in the lymph from leg, heart or bronchial lymphatics. In these regions protein molecules of “effective diffusion radii” up to 120 Å pass into lymph. If the large proteins pass by “bulk flow” through water filled pathways the size of these pathways or “capillary leaks” would lie between 120–300 Å radius.